Mental health cruise nets $52,000; goodwill built among potential donors could be worth a lot more

Crain's reporter Jay Greene and his wife, Olya, enjoy the Detroit Central City Community Mental Health the annual Cruise for a Cause: Rock 'n' Roll on Lake St. Clair on Aug. 21.

“You are going on a mental health cruise?” one of my co-workers asked. “Is that something like the movie ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’?”

Not exactly, I said. I was invited instead of Jack Nicholson.

Sans Nicholson, nearly 200 donors, friends, employees and supporters of Detroit Central City Community Mental Health Inc. were invited and on board the 138-foot yacht Ovation on Aug. 21 for the annual Cruise for a Cause: Rock ‘n’ Roll on Lake St. Clair.

Despite threatening storm clouds that held off until 10 p.m. when a drizzle started and the Ovation docked at the Jefferson Beach Marina in St. Clair Shores, $52,000 was netted for the event, said Irva Faber-Bermudez, president and CEO of Detroit Central City, the organization that put together the cruise. “We had a good turnout. Every year it gets better and better,” she said.

Based on my steady consumption of California cabernet wine and excellent roast beef, cheese, fancy mushrooms and vegetables, the cruise was a success. I even got my wife, Olya, on the dance floor that was literally “under the stars.” The next morning, Olya was even humming one of the tunes the band Persuasion played, “Sweet Home Alabama.”

While the proceeds were down a little from last year, Faber-Bermudez said several VIPs at the event, including supporters and relatives to board members with contacts to the Detroit Pistons, promised to raise money through some basketball events.

Raising money is what it is all about for Detroit Central City, especially when you consider that public funding for mental health is down and community mental health needs continue to grow.

Earlier this year, Detroit Central City opened the city’s first integrated medical, dental and behavioral health federally qualified health center in Midtown at 10 Peterboro St.

“We have seen about 300 individuals so far and some are coming back for second visits. More than 70 percent of people are being seen for behavioral health issues,” Faber-Bermudez said.

But Detroit’s seventh FQHC is already bursting at the seams. With only two exam rooms and about 5,000 square feet, Faber-Bermudez said the clinic needs more to reach its goal of seeing 4,000 clients by the end of 2016.

“We need to raise capital to add six to eight exam rooms and additional space for health education,” she said.

The cost of the expansion will be $860,000, with half coming from donations and half from a bank loan.

So far, Detroit Central City has raised nearly $400,000. Several foundations, companies and private groups already have made donations. Some of the donors include The Jewish Fund, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Kresge Foundation, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

“We are hoping to start work on the renovations soon and be in place by January,” Faber-Bermudez said.